In this section

HEENE

The former civil parish of Heene, (fn. 1) now part of
Worthing borough, lay on the sea coast 1 mile west
of Worthing hamlet. Like Durrington, it was a
medieval chapelry of West Tarring; the layout of
its boundaries in the 19th century shows that its
area had been carved out of Tarring parish. (fn. 2)
Though it remained part of West Tarring ecclesiastical parish until the 19th century, it was separate
for civil purposes from the 16th. In 1881 it contained 426 a. excluding foreshore and including the
district or township of West Worthing of c. 300 a. (fn. 3)
In 1890 the whole parish was included in Worthing
borough at its incorporation. (fn. 4) The present article
deals with the history of the parish up to c. 1900,
though certain topics, including the history of
institutions originating before that date, are treated
here up to 1978.

The parish was almost square in shape, the entire
northern and western boundaries being formed by
the Teville stream and by roads, the modern
Tarring Road, Elm Grove, and Wallace Avenue,
formerly Sea Lane. (fn. 5) Most of the parish lay on the
brickearth, with a small area of Coombe deposits in
the north-east corner. (fn. 6) A low east-west ridge provided the site for the village, and earlier for a Roman
villa to the west, (fn. 7) the land sloping gently northwards to the Teville stream and southwards to the
sea.

The coastline of Heene has fluctuated greatly in
historic times. Arable land worth 6s. 8d. a year was
destroyed by the sea between 1291 and 1341, (fn. 8) and
the Domesday assessment of Heene at 5 hides may
indicate that the parish had been larger still in the
late 11th century. (fn. 9) By the late 16th century on the
other hand a shingle beach had grown up off shore,
forming enclosed lagoons between it and the mainland. (fn. 10) Erosion had begun again by c. 1700. A
watch-house was built on the coast near the boundary between Heene and Tarring manors about that
date, but by 1724 its site was covered by beach. (fn. 11)
In 1755 a local man remembered the sea at Heene
having once been much further away than it then
was. (fn. 12) Six perches of land were estimated to have
been lost during the 18th century, (fn. 13) and the sea is
thought to have encroached 55 yards between c.
1780 and 1875. (fn. 14) In the early 19th century the land
along the coast, called Heene common, was rough
pasture, intersected by watercourses, and covered
with gorse. (fn. 15) Some groynes had been built by 1805, (fn. 16)
and more were apparently added after 1865. (fn. 17) A
signal post was built by 1805 as part of the chain
between Beachy Head and Portsmouth; in 1814 it
also served to telegraph to ships at sea. (fn. 18)

In 1616 the lords of the two manors of the parish
were alleged by the vicar of West Tarring to be
systematically depopulating the village by imposing
heavy fines on succession to tenements and by
omitting to hold courts so that heirs were prevented
from establishing their right to their property.
About 30 of the village's 60 houses were said to
have been pulled down and their gardens grubbed
up during the previous 6 years. (fn. 19) Twenty houses
were listed in 1664, (fn. 20) and in the 1670s mention was
made of East, High, and West streets, (fn. 21) High Street
presumably being the modern Heene Road. Whatever the truth of the allegations of 1616, for which
the defendants alleged ulterior motives, the village
had certainly declined by 1795, when it contained
only a few houses, chiefly along the modern Heene
Road. (fn. 22) Some of those houses apparently survived
in 1978.

During the first 20 years of the 19th century,
however, there was much building development,
inspired by the growth of Worthing. Between 1801
and 1811 the number of houses in the parish trebled,
though at the latter date a third of the total were
unoccupied. (fn. 23) Some new buildings at least were
lodging-houses, and with one bathing-machine in
1805, and more by 1814, Heene became a small
resort, like South Lancing at the same period. (fn. 24)
There were two areas of development. A small
settlement called Little Heene comprised a row of
c. 15 houses in Brunswick Road in the south-east
part of the parish. (fn. 25) Heene Road, which by c. 1800
had declined virtually to a farm track, (fn. 26) meanwhile
acquired several villas and terraced houses on its
east side. (fn. 27) In 1835 Heene was said to be to Worthing
what Rottingdean was to Brighton. (fn. 28) It continued
to be a place for residence or retirement, 4 'gentry'
being listed among the inhabitants in 1852, and 8
in 1862. (fn. 29) There was an inn called the King and
Queen at Little Heene by c. 1839; (fn. 30) by 1874 it had
become the Brunswick hotel, (fn. 31) which it remained in
1978.

In 1863 most of the parish was bought by the
Heene Estate Land Co., which in the following year
sold the south part to the West Worthing Investment Co. (fn. 32) for development as what was intended
to be a first-class watering-place. (fn. 33) The original
promoters were chiefly Londoners, but some of
them later moved to West Worthing. (fn. 34) In 1865 the
property of the two companies became the district
or township of West Worthing, with its own improvement commissioners. (fn. 35) Sea defences and an
esplanade were under construction in 1864, and by
1865 (fn. 36) Heene Terrace, comprising 18 four-storeyed
houses of yellow brick with stucco dressings, had
been built together with the adjacent Heene (later
West Worthing, afterwards Burlington) hotel. (fn. 37)
By 1866 there were Venetian Gothic swimming
baths with an assembly room north of Heene
Terrace, and by the following year another terrace
east of the hotel. The baths and assembly room
were demolished in 1973. Some detached and semidetached houses were also built in Heene Road
before 1875. (fn. 38) By 1874 the resort was being patronized by winter as well as summer visitors. (fn. 39) A
roller-skating rink next to the baths was opened in
1875, (fn. 40) and by 1881 there were pleasure grounds
and a tennis lawn in front, (fn. 41) but a pier planned in
1882 was not built. (fn. 42)

Meanwhile West Worthing was also promoted as
a residential area, (fn. 43) and by 1870 had begun to
acquire the character of a fashionable suburb. (fn. 44)
The number of houses in the parish increased from
40 in 1861 to 100 in 1871, though one third were
then uninhabited, and after a slower increase in
the 1870s, again at least doubled in each of the last
two decades of the century. (fn. 45) The area within the
township, however, failed to develop as fast as was
hoped, partly because the West Worthing Waterworks Co. could only supply water during the
daytime, in the absence of a reservoir. (fn. 46) A number
of roads, including the wide, tree-lined Grand
Avenue, had been laid out west of Heene Road by
1867, and land along them sold or let on building
leases, (fn. 47) but virtually no houses had appeared there
by 1875. (fn. 48) In 1896 those roads still remained almost
entirely unbuilt on, much of the surrounding area
being occupied by market-gardens. (fn. 49) Meanwhile a
proposed square east of Little Heene was never
built, its site being developed piecemeal instead
over a number of years. (fn. 50) The slow development
of those two areas for building is expressed in
their patchwork architectural appearance with
houses of many different dates. On the other hand
land east of Heene Road comprising the former
East field, which lay outside the area of the township, was largely built over within c. 12 years of its
sale in 1884, forming a western extension to the
select Gratwicke estate in Worthing, and with the
same mixture of large detached and semi-detached
houses. (fn. 51) A new impulse to residential development
was given by the opening of West Worthing station
in West Tarring parish in 1889, a club-house near
by being built by 1890. (fn. 52) and a hotel by 1895. (fn. 53) By
1896 several roads had been laid out north and west
of Heene church. (fn. 54) In 1894 West Worthing was
described as chiefly a good class residential area, (fn. 55)
with much the same relation to Worthing as that of
Hove to Brighton. (fn. 56)

Meanwhile the resort facilities of West Worthing
had developed little during the 1880s, though by
1890 there were c. 25 apartment-houses, lodginghouses and boarding-houses. (fn. 57) The opening of the
railway station prompted an abortive attempt to
develop the resort, with new plans for a pier in
1895, (fn. 58) and the commencement by 1900 of a large
hotel at the south end of Grand Avenue, (fn. 59) which
remained a shell until 1922 when it was completed
for use as residential flats. (fn. 60)

Fourteen persons were enumerated at Heene in
1086, (fn. 61) and the same number were assessed to the
subsidy in 1296. (fn. 62) Thirty inhabitants were assessed
in 1524, (fn. 63) and 42 years later there were reckoned
to be 32 households. (fn. 64) In 1676 21 adults were
listed. (fn. 65) Between 1801 and 1821 the population
increased from 101 to 178. All 185 inhabitants in
1841 were natives of the county. Thereafter, apart
from a drop during the 1850s, the population increased steadily to 427 in 1871, 845 in 1881, 1,691
in 1891, and 3,019 in 1901. The population of West
Worthing township was 276 in 1871, and 689 in
1881. During the second half of the century, as
single female residents and female servants grew in
numbers, the proportion of women to men in the
parish rose sharply. There were nearly equal
numbers of women and men in 1851; in 1881 the
proportion was 3 to 2, in 1891 nearly 2 to 1, and in
1901 over 2 to 1. (fn. 66)

The modern Worthing-Goring road follows the
general line of the former footpath through the
parish, (fn. 67) with a diversion north of Heene village;
a plan for a turnpike road along the same line
made between 1830 and 1834 was not carried out. (fn. 68)
A coast road planned at the same period also remained unbuilt; (fn. 69) the east part of the modern
coast road was constructed c. 1865-7, and extended
westwards as the land was developed for building. (fn. 70)

West Worthing was affected by the second outbreak of typhoid fever in Worthing in 1893, with
58 recorded cases and 15 deaths. (fn. 71)

MANORS.

An estate at Heene which was held of
Earl Godwin (d. 1053) by Levret as 2½ hides was
held of William de Braose in 1086 by one Ralph.
Another estate, also comprising 2½ hides, was
retained in 1086 by its pre-Conquest owner Alward,
though it too was held at the later date of William
de Braose. (fn. 72) Those two estates were perhaps
identical with the two later manors in the parish,
which may be described from the names of their
late-13th-century owners as the Falconer and the
Bavent manors. The Bavent manor was always held
of Bramber honor, (fn. 73) but the Falconer manor,
though so held at first, (fn. 74) was described in the 16th
century as held in chief. (fn. 75)

Robert Falconer was dealing with HEENE
FALCONER in the 1190S, (fn. 76) and it descended
thereafter until the early 14th century with Michelgrove in Clapham. (fn. 77) In 1248 Godfrey Falconer
granted it to his father Robert's widow Sabina and
her husband Robert de Beaumes as her dower. (fn. 78) In
1303 John Falconer sold it to William de la Felde. (fn. 79)
In 1329 or 1330 it was settled for life on William's
daughter Rose with remainder to Henry Romyn, (fn. 80)
who died in 1349 seised of lands in Heene held as
¾ fee. (fn. 81) In 1360 Henry son of Henry de la Felde
quitclaimed the manor to William of Singleton and
his wife Elizabeth. (fn. 82) After c. 1380 the manor was
part of the FitzAlan estate in Sussex, having been
acquired presumably by Richard FitzAlan, earl of
Arundel (d. 1376), or possibly by his son Richard.
On the latter's execution in 1397, (fn. 83) it was resumed
by the Crown, and granted to John Holand, duke
of Exeter, (fn. 84) who was beheaded in 1400, when
Richard FitzAlan's son Thomas, earl of Arundel
(d. 1415) was restored to his father's titles and
estates. (fn. 85) He granted the manor to Holy Trinity
hospital, Arundel, (fn. 86) which held it until the Dissolution. (fn. 87) In 1546 it was granted by the Crown to
Sir Richard Lee, who in the same year was licensed
to alienate it to Sir Thomas Palmer. (fn. 88) Sir Thomas
quitclaimed the manor in 1557 to Thomas and
John Cooke, (fn. 89) members of whose family had been
tenants of the hospital. (fn. 90) Thomas died in 1573,
leaving as his heir his infant grandson William
Cooke. (fn. 91) William died in 1598, his infant son of the
same forename (fn. 92) becoming a ward of the Crown.
In 1618 or 1619 he took possession, (fn. 93) and in 1643
apparently still held the manor. (fn. 94) It later passed
successively to his son Edward, (fn. 95) and Edward's son
Edward (d. 1672). The younger Edward's widow
Elizabeth, who had married Richard Creswell, and
his surviving sister Anne, who had married John
Arnold, (fn. 96) in 1676 mortgaged, and in 1683 sold, the
estate to James Butler. (fn. 97)

HEENE BAVENT descended with Wiston
between the mid 12th century and 1602. (fn. 98) Adam de
Bavent (d. by 1292) was confirmed in free warren
there in 1279 and 1285, but his claim to right of
wreck was refused. (fn. 99) After his death Gervasia,
widow of William of Wiston, held Heene in dower. (fn. 100)
Roger de Bavent was apparently taking wreck
illegally in the manor in 1304 and 1333, but in 1357
the Crown granted right of wreck to Peter de
Braose. (fn. 101) John de Braose (d. 1426) had both right
of wreck and free warren there. (fn. 102) In 1602 Sir
Thomas Shirley sold Heene Bavent, with free
chase and right of wreck, to the tenant James
Graves. (fn. 103) He was succeeded in 1608 by his son
John (d. 1612), whose brother and heir James died
in 1626. James's son Sackville (fn. 104) was dealing with it
in 1659, (fn. 105) and after his death in 1686 his son James (fn. 106)
sold it in 1688 to James Butler. (fn. 107)

The combined manor of Heene thereafter descended with Rowdell in Washington until Patty
Clough sold it in 1789 or 1790 to Thomas
Richardson. (fn. 108) Thomas was succeeded between
1795 and 1797 by his widow Frances, (fn. 109) (d. after
1806), (fn. 110) and in 1824 their son William Westbrook
Richardson apparently held the manor jointly with
Thomas and John Richardson. (fn. 111) By that date it
comprised more than three-quarters of the parish. (fn. 112)
By 1830 William held it alone, (fn. 113) and in 1863 he
sold it to the Heene Estate Land Co. (fn. 114)

A manor-house of Heene Bavent was recorded in
1357 and 1427, (fn. 115) and one of Heene Falconer in 1279,
1397, and 1616. (fn. 116) Heene Farmhouse near the chapel,
apparently the same as or a successor to one of them,
was demolished in 1973. (fn. 117)

ECONOMIC HISTORY.

In 1086 the demesne of
Ralph's manor at Heene was worked by one team,
and one servus was recorded there; meanwhile 3
villani and 2 bordars had another team. One team
worked the demesne of the 2½ hides which Alward
held, and 3 villani and 5 bordars had another there. (fn. 118)
In 1279 Heene Falconer had a demesne farm comprising 115 a. of arable land, 9 a. of meadow, and
pasture worth 4s., and the fixed rents of tenants
were worth 7s. 3d. (fn. 119) At the same period there were
5 free tenants of Heene Bavent, owing money rents,
3 tenants apparently free who held 1 a. each and
owed occasional labour services besides paying
money rents, and 11 customary tenants who held
either 1 a., ½ yardland (7 a.), or a 'ferling' of land
(3½ a.). All but one of the customary tenants owed
extensive labour services. (fn. 120) Other land in Heene
was presumably held then, as later, of Tarring
rectory manor. (fn. 121) Some labour services continued to
be owed during the 14th century by tenants of
Heene Bavent, where the fixed rents of free and
bond tenants were worth £2 9s. in 1357, (fn. 122) and £5 11s.
in 1427. (fn. 123) At the end of the 14th century Heene
Falconer had 16 free and 6 copyhold tenants, many
holding 2 a. or less, whose rents were valued at
£2 15s. (fn. 124) The demesnes of Heene Bavent in 1357
comprised 156 a., (fn. 125) and those of Heene Falconer at
the end of the 14th century over 100 a., (fn. 126) Heene
Bavent in the late 14th century, as earlier, apparently
being managed virtually as a subordinate part of
Wiston manor. (fn. 127)

Between the mid 15th century and at least the
late 17th there were free and copyhold tenants of
both manors; copyhold tenements could be sub-let
in the 15th century, and presumably later. (fn. 128) The
demesne lands of Heene Bavent were at farm in the
1480s, and those of both manors in 1535. (fn. 129) Later
the two farms coalesced to make a single farm which
engrossed the smaller holdings of the parish. By
1758 it comprised 438 a. in Heene and elsewhere,
including most of the area of the parish. (fn. 130) In 1789
c. 13 a. of copyhold land in Heene belonging to
Tarring rectory manor were held with it. (fn. 131) The
farm was occupied by members of the Mitchell
family between that date and 1845. (fn. 132) About 1839 it
comprised 344 a. (fn. 133) There were two farmers at Heene
in 1855, (fn. 134) and despite the development of West
Worthing in the late 19th century there was apparently still at least one farm in the parish in 1896. (fn. 135)

Several open fields were named at Heene c. 1400; (fn. 136)
in later times there were only 2 fields, East field,
mentioned from 1671, (fn. 137) and West field, mentioned
from 1480, (fn. 138) and by 1806 known as Mill field. (fn. 139)
Crops recorded in the Middle Ages were wheat,
barley, oats, rye, flax, peas and beans, and vetches. (fn. 140)

By 1806 Mill field, west of the church, of 120 a.,
had been completely inclosed except for two strips
in the middle, and belonged to Heene farm. East
field on the other hand, (fn. 141) though it had apparently
included at least one pasture close in 1671, (fn. 142) remained largely uninclosed. Heene farm had 17
strips there, mostly of less than 1 a. in area, and the
rest belonged to c. 6 other tenants. Two several
closes called Upper and Lower Mollsholes field
north of Mill field (fn. 143) probably represented the open
field called Moreleshole c. 1400. (fn. 144) In 1839 East field
was still divided between 8 owners, (fn. 145) and it remained in small strips in 1875, chiefly as marketgardens. (fn. 146)

Heene common, on the sea shore, perhaps
identical with land at Heene commonable by cattle
and pigs in 1397, (fn. 147) was divided in 1535 between
the two manors. At that date part was called the
Green, and part the Ham, and cattle, sheep, and
horses were kept there. (fn. 148) What was apparently the
Bavent share was still being commoned in the late
16th and early 17th centuries, when by-laws were
made in the manor court about it. (fn. 149) Commoning,
however, had apparently ceased by the early 19th
century. (fn. 150) About 1839 the common comprised 64 a.
of rough sheep pasture, (fn. 151) but soon afterwards it
was improved and turned over to arable. (fn. 152) At the
same date there were 335 a. of arable land and 13 a.
of other meadow and pasture. (fn. 153) The soil of the
parish was described in 1835 as singularly
productive. (fn. 154)

There was a market-gardener at Heene in 1855
and two in 1874, and a fruit grower and nurseryman
in 1882. (fn. 155) The former East field, comprising c. 60 a.,
had been almost entirely given over to marketgardening by 1875. By 1896 that area had been
largely built over, but meanwhile market-gardens
had greatly expanded further west, (fn. 156) and were said
to be one cause of the rise in Heene's population in
the 1890s. (fn. 157) One market-gardener and 3 nurserymen
were listed in 1890. (fn. 158) Market-gardens and glasshouses still occupied much land in West Worthing
well into the 20th century.

A windmill belonging to Heene Falconer was
recorded from 1279. (fn. 159) There was a windmill in the
open field later called Mill field, west of the church,
by 1650, (fn. 160) and perhaps by 1587. (fn. 161) A mill survived
on that site, beside Mill Road, till 1903, (fn. 162) but was
disused by 1896. (fn. 163)

The surname basket-maker (lipar) was recorded
at Heene c. 1300, (fn. 164) and a brewer was mentioned in
1501. (fn. 165) In the 16th and 17th centuries the villagers
supplemented their livelihood by fishing, and
apparently coastal trading, both at home and
abroad. (fn. 166) In the 1670s 6 seamen were listed in West
Tarring and Heene, (fn. 167) and in 1770 one fisherman in
Heene. (fn. 168) In 1798 there was a shopkeeper in the
village. (fn. 169) In the early 19th century the growth of
the resort brought new trades and services; in 1821
11 families were supported chiefly by trade or manufacture as against 20 chiefly by agriculture. (fn. 170)
Retailing expanded still further after the foundation
of West Worthing. There were a tailor, a grocer,
and a surgeon by 1867, and in 1874 a dress-maker
and four laundresses. Eight years later there were a
bath-chair proprietor and a boat-builder, and in
1887 a riding master, a builder, and a chemist. (fn. 171)
Meanwhile building activity gave employment to a
short-lived brick-works in Grand Avenue in 1875. (fn. 172)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICES.

A reeve of Heene Bavent occurs c.
1300 (fn. 173) and in 1383, and a serjeant in 1371. (fn. 174) There
are court rolls or draft court rolls for various years
between 1480 and 1548, (fn. 175) and court records
apparently of Heene Bavent for various years
between 1525 and 1628 survived c. 1800. (fn. 176) In 1529
the court was held at Wiston. (fn. 177) Besides the usual
jurisdiction over agriculture and changes in tenancies the court dealt with the lord's right to wreck
and heard cases of assault. (fn. 178) In the late 15th and
early 16th century it elected an officer called the
curimannus, of unknown function. (fn. 179) There are draft
court rolls for Heene Falconer for 1450 and 1452,
when the court regulated tenancies. (fn. 180) It was alleged
in 1616 that courts had ceased to be held at both
manors. (fn. 181) Courts were still held for Heene Falconer
at least in the late 17th century, only business concerning tenancies being recorded. (fn. 182) The lord of the
manor still exercised right of wreck in the 18th
century. (fn. 183) There was a headborough for the combined manor in 1822. (fn. 184)

Two churchwardens, or chapelwardens, were
elected for Heene from 1544 or earlier, but for most
of the period 1663-1868 there was only one. (fn. 185) The
office never seems to have been held with that of
churchwarden for West Tarring or Durrington.
Similarly there were two separate overseers for
Heene from 1642 and perhaps earlier, (fn. 186) but a
separate waywarden and constables were not recorded before 1854. (fn. 187) Heene was apparently added
to East Preston united parishes in 1803, as part of
West Tarring, but it was allotted separate guardians
only in 1869. (fn. 188) The parish remained a separate
local government unit after its incorporation in
Worthing until 1902 when a new civil parish of
Worthing, co-extensive with the enlarged borough,
was formed. (fn. 189)

Improvement commissioners were appointed in
1865 for the district or township of West Worthing,
comprising most of Heene parish; their area of
jurisdiction was enlarged in 1883. They had powers
to pave, light, drain, and cleanse the streets, erect
and maintain sea defences, contract for the supply
of gas and water, and levy general, sewer, and highway rates; by 1881 they were specifically described
as an urban sanitary authority. Three commissioners
were elected from the beginning by property
owners, and six by ratepayers. (fn. 190) In 1869 there was
a special constable, (fn. 191) and in 1878 a clerk, a collector,
a medical officer, and an inspector of nuisances, the
two latter holding the same posts under the
Worthing local board. (fn. 192) By 1882 there was also a
surveyor. (fn. 193) The commissioners first met at the
Heene, later West Worthing, hotel. (fn. 194) Later they
built a brick and stone building of Italianate design
in Rowlands Road for their offices. It was demolished
in 1974. (fn. 195)

A water-works was opened on the north side of
the swimming baths by 1867. (fn. 196) The new town was
then said to be well drained and lighted with gas, (fn. 197)
evidently from the Worthing gas-works. The waterworks was enlarged after 1884 to supply the rest of
Heene parish, West Tarring, and part of Broadwater. (fn. 198) A second well was sunk in 1887, (fn. 199) and a
reservoir built at Durrington in 1894. (fn. 200) During the
typhoid outbreak in 1893 the supply was used to
replace temporarily Worthing's polluted supply. (fn. 201)
West Worthing's sewerage system was then still
separate from that of Worthing, (fn. 202) but after 1894 it
was linked to it. (fn. 203) The West Worthing water-works
was taken over and closed by Worthing corporation
in 1896, the reservoir, however, being retained. (fn. 204)

CHURCHES.

The second church mentioned as at
West Tarring in 1086 (fn. 205) seems to have been at
Heene, and may have been a chapel of Tarring
church, for in the Middle Ages and later Heene was
a chapelry of Tarring. In 1200 the lord of Heene
Bavent apparently claimed the right to present to
the chapel, (fn. 206) and in 1239 the lords of both manors
unsuccessfully claimed the same right, saying that
Heene was a parish church independent of West
Tarring. (fn. 207) Some support for that contention is
perhaps provided by the discovery of human
remains in the churchyard in the late 18th century,
suggesting that at one time burials were performed
there. (fn. 208) There is no record, however, of any incumbent of Heene before the 19th century. On the
opening of a new church in 1873 Heene was made
a perpetual curacy the incumbent being at first
entitled vicar. (fn. 209) In 1875 a district chapelry was
formed, its boundaries being those of the civil
parish, (fn. 210) and the living was endowed with the
rectorial tithe-rent-charge of that area, (fn. 211) the
incumbent thereafter being called a rector. (fn. 212) The
advowson of Heene belonged to the archbishop of
Canterbury until 1930 when it was given in exchange to the dean and chapter of Chichester,
which still held it in 1977. (fn. 213)

In the Middle Ages and later the revenues of
Heene belonged to West Tarring rectory and
vicarage. The new benefice was endowed in 1875
with all the tithe-rent-charge arising from the area
of the ancient chapelry, which for many years was
supplemented only from the offertory. (fn. 214) In addition
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners made a grant
towards the erection of a rectory house (fn. 215) which was
built in 1875 (fn. 216) on a site given by the West Worthing
Investment Co. (fn. 217) A new rectory was built in 1958. (fn. 218)

A chantry chapel which belonged to Heene
Falconer in the late 14th century, when its endowment comprised 15 a. of land and £1 10s. rent, (fn. 219)
was apparently the same as that founded in 1330
by John de Montgomery. (fn. 220) By the 16th century the
lands had passed to Holy Trinity hospital at Arundel.
About 1548, when the hospital was leasing them
out, there was no chaplain, and no masses had been
said for 10 years. (fn. 221)

In the Middle Ages Heene was presumably
served by chaplains, as stipulated in the ordination
of West Tarring vicarage in 1287. (fn. 222) In 1239 neither
baptisms nor burials were performed there, though
it was said that baptisms had been until c. 1200. (fn. 223)
In the early 16th century services were still held at
Heene, (fn. 224) but testators there were buried at West
Tarring. (fn. 225) In the late 16th century the chapel was
served by curates. (fn. 226) A church ale at Heene was
mentioned in 1561. (fn. 227) In 1616 the cure was said to
be served by a poor shoemaker of West Tarring, (fn. 228)
but in 1634, in response to an ultimatum apparently
from the lord of Heene Falconer, the vicar agreed
in future to read services and administer the
sacraments either himself or through a curate. (fn. 229) The
next vicar, William Stanley, however, served Heene
only intermittently. (fn. 230) Meanwhile in 1622 the inhabitants had petitioned, apparently successfully,
to take down an aisle of their chapel. (fn. 231) The vicar
of West Tarring apparently still preached at Heene
once a month according to agreement in 1684, (fn. 232) but
in 1766, since no services had been held there in
living memory, and since the chapel had become
very ruinous, a faculty was obtained to pull it down
and re-use its materials in the repair of West
Tarring church. (fn. 233) The chancel had been taken down
by 1770, (fn. 234) and the rest, except for some walling,
by 1778. (fn. 235)

In the early 19th century some parishioners
attended Worthing chapel of ease. (fn. 236) A new church
was built by subscription between 1873 and 1879
on a site given by the Heene Estate Land Co. (fn. 237) The
services at the church were High Church in character, the first to be seen in the Worthing area. (fn. 238) In
the 1870s weekly cottage lectures and penny
readings were held, and there were blanket and
other clubs and a village library. (fn. 239) A temporary
iron church hall, in existence by c. 1879, was
replaced in 1898 by a permanent building in Heene
Road. (fn. 240) In 1884 three Sunday services were held
and the church, which seated 750, was said to be
always full, communicants including many nonparishioners. (fn. 241) The church has since retained its
High Church character. (fn. 242)

The old chapel of ST. BOTOLPH, of which
the dedication is recorded in 1534, (fn. 243) consisted of a
nave, chancel, aisle, and steeple (fn. 244) of unknown date.
The old font survived in 1892. (fn. 245) The new church,
of the same dedication, consisted as first built of a
nave, chancel, north and south aisles, and south
transept, with west tower and spire, all in brick and
flint. The architect was E. Scott of Brighton. The
south aisle and transept were enlarged between
1903 and 1905. (fn. 246)

The church of ST. JOHN, Elm Grove, was
built in 1937 of brick and flint, to the designs of
N. Cachemaille-Day, incorporated in its structure
a mission room which had been built in 1901. (fn. 247)
There was a priest-in-charge in 1940, (fn. 248) and a parish
was formed from Heene and West Tarring parishes
in 1955. (fn. 249) The bishop was patron in 1969. By then
there was a vicarage house. (fn. 250) St. John's has shared
the Anglo-Catholic tradition of its mother church. (fn. 251)

There are registers for Heene from 1594 to
1751, (fn. 252) and from 1813, (fn. 253) though from the late 18th
century at least to the late 19th baptisms, marriages, and burials were evidently performed at
West Tarring. Between 1751 and 1813 Heene
entries were made in the West Tarring registers,
sometimes being listed separately. (fn. 254)

NONCONFORMITY.

Two popish recusants
were listed at Heene in 1676. (fn. 255) No dissenting
chapel was founded there until after the parish was
included in Worthing.

EDUCATION.

In 1871 the children of Heene
attended school in Worthing. (fn. 256) Various private
schools were recorded in the parish in the 1870s
and 1880s, (fn. 257) among them the Holt Middle Class
Girls' School in Heene Road, founded by Henrietta,
wife of Sir Percy Burrell, Bt. (d. 1880). (fn. 258)

Heene National school in Heene Road was opened
in 1886, succeeding a small class held in a private
house. There were then two classrooms besides the
schoolroom, and 44 children attended, paying fees
of 2d. to 4d. (fn. 259) Average attendance was 118 in 1893,
rising to 159 in 1899, (fn. 260) and fluctuating in the early
20th century as other school provision was made
near by. In 1906 there were 48 infants. (fn. 261) By 1974
the school had become Heene First and Middle
(C.E. Aided) school, which had an average attendance in 1976 of 313. (fn. 262)